Game No. 14 - Bucks vs. Gorillas

Apparently Adam Rivet is not playing tonight. I'm not sure why, and I imagine no one will be willing to share that information if it's injury-related. He is here, though, and looks fine as far as I can tell. Maybe Coach Ruskowski is just sitting him to give the younger D-men a chance to prove themselves before he decides who to axe when Ryan James Hand comes off the IR. Okay, apparently it is an "upper-body injury" after all. I'll try to get a return timetable from Ruskowski after the game.

As always, you can follow the game here or here...

Starters: Bucks - Jeff Bes (F), Serge Dube (D), Ryan Gibb (G), Jaye Judd (D), Rick Kozak (F), Darryl Smith (F); Gorillas - Sam Ftorek (F), Mike Gorman (G), Joe Guenther (F), James Jernberg (D), Stuart MacRae (F), John Snowden (F).

First Period: Jason Dixon has been called for the game's first penalty at 4:35 in the period for hooking in front of the net. I don't think Ruskowski will mind, though, because the Gorillas were definitely right on the doorstep. Gibb has made a couple nice saves already. The Bucks have generated a few opportunities but not been able to do much with them, as Gorman has lost track of a few deflections but not had any Bucks nearby to clean them up. ... Gibb is taking a lot of pressure in the penalty kill and has some more headed his way as a hooking penalty against Bobby Russell has made it a Gorillas' 5-on-3 for four seconds, then another power play to follow. ... Dube just put a mean hit on one of the Gorillas, and the crowd loved it. Funny that a guy who had planned to retire would be so physical when he came back. ... Both penalties have been killed. ... Bucks get their first power play now, as Jason Weitzel has been sent to the box for hooking at the 10:31 mark. ... Just like Thursday night, Kozak has started the scoring in the game. This time 33 seconds later than last, with the goal coming at 11:16 in the period. Bes had the primary assist; we'll see if they give out another one. Gorman's body language following that one showed exactly why it must kind of suck to be a goalie. In his defense, the Bucks were firing against him pretty non-stop for a while there before he let one in. Bucks lead 1-0 on the power-play score. ... The Bucks are 1-for-1 on the power play and are now getting another one, as Neil Smith is headed to the box for interference. ... The Bucks got some shots off, but that was it, and now Alex Goupil has been called for tripping to make it 4-on-4 for seven seconds, then a Gorillas' power play for 1:53. ... End of the period, Bucks still lead 1-0. They are up 15-12 on shots. Ruskowski was yelling at Ryan Salvis as the team left the ice; I wonder what he did wrong.

Second Period: Bucks get an early power play in this period, as Gordon Bell was called for hooking just 34 seconds in. ... And now they have an early goal, as Smith knocked in the rebound from a shot by Kozak at 49 seconds. Bes gets the second assist, and the Bucks lead 2-0. ... Gorillas get their first power play of the second, as Igor Agarunov has been sent to the box for tripping. ... Dixon just went on a breakaway and got a great shot off, then got robbed by Gorman, but now has a penalty shot for his troubles. First penalty shot (at the LEC) this season, fun stuff. ... Dixon deked the heck out of that thing, then hit the left post. He would have had it otherwise. ... Guenther scored just two seconds out of the power play to put the Gorillas on the board. Okay, they're saying it was Weitzel, but it looked like Guenther had it. He is getting the assist. Bucks lead 2-1. ... Gorillas definitely took that as a momentum swing and are now leading the Bucks in shots 19-18, but Weitzel is now in the box for hooking with just under seven minutes in the period. ... Bucks just got very, very close...as in Gorman is the only person in the world who knows if he truly kept that puck from crossing the goal line. If this were the NHL, they'd be doing a replay for sure; as is, they're just talking it over. No goal seems to be the call. There was just a no-goal call against the Gorillas, in a much less controversial situation, moments ago, so I guess this is retribution. ... They just corrected the Gorillas' goal, giving it to Guenther, with Weitzel and Snowden picking up assists. ... End of the period, Bucks still lead 2-1. They have outshot the Gorillas 26-20.

Third Period: Gorillas have an early play on a slashing call against Bes at 1:43. ... Bucks are getting their first power play of the period now, with a tripping call against Luke Lynes at 8:16. ... The Brahmas beat the Oilers 6-2, so the Bucks will need at least a point from this one to keep their Southeast Division lead outright. ... Right after the Gorillas killed that penalty, Matt Frick took another one, also for tripping, to put the Bucks back on the power play. ... Smith, who has been taking hard hits from the Gorillas for a while now, just took a Kozak slap shot to the face and pretty much ran off the ice, clearly in a heck of a lot of pain. Yikes. ... Dube is in the box for interference with 3:38 to play, giving the Amarillos their sixth power play of the game. ... Penalty has been killed, and the Gorillas now have the puck with an empty net and 49 seconds to play. ... Gotta love icing calls with 4.5 seconds in a game.

Game Over: Bucks win 2-1, improve to 10-4-0 (20 points) and keep their division and conference leads. I have to run back to the office after I get interviews, but I will update all the outside scores, and share the Stars of the Game, later.

Three Stars: No. 3 Gibb, No. 2 Smith, No. 1 Kozak. At the game, they said the stars were Smith, Bes and Kozak, and I was really curious as to why Gibb wasn't getting one, but I guess he did. Gorman was another contender, I'd say.

UPDATE: Smith is apparently fine, though obviously a bit shaken up.